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On Sun, 2006-05-14 at 22:58 -0400, Evan Leibovitch wrote:
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<FONT COLOR="#000000">I always respect Cringeley, so it was interesting to read in this latest</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#000000">column an interesting analysis of Big Blue.</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#000000"><A HREF="http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20060511.html">http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20060511.html</A></FONT>
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All successful companies go through a stage of complacency. The ones that don't recognize it soon enough will die quickly. The other thing that kills companies is when the emotional attachment of the founders clouds decision making.<BR>
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Microsoft is one exception to complacency. They are tremendously successful and have never been complacent. That's why they ended up in anti-trust. The biggest problem within Microsoft is that the founders are still in control. Their attachment guides them down a path that dead-ends, albeit a long way away.<BR>
<BR>
IBM on the other hand, is a company that has been through anti-trust, decades ago, and are now a collection of diverse and often competing business units. They have four major hardware platforms that they sell and support (xSeries (intel/AMD), pSeries (power), zSeries (mainframe), and iSeries (AS/400)) Each wants your business and each is incented to get your business. I see IBM as a company that has its own internal economy. I think this economy makes it less likely to become the Microsoft of the future.<BR>
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I also can't help but think about how IBM wants Linux to succeed, even if it is only to resurrect their lagging platforms or to reduce their dependence on Microsoft.<BR>
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<B>John Van Ostrand</B>
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<B>Net Direct Inc.</B>
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<I>Chief Technology Officer</I>
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564 Weber St. N. Unit 12<BR>
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<A HREF="mailto:john-Da48MpWaEp0CzWx7n4ubxQ@public.gmane.org">john-Da48MpWaEp0CzWx7n4ubxQ@public.gmane.org</A>
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<A HREF="http://www.netdirect.ca">Linux Solutions / IBM Hardware</A>
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